Fire-escape



STATES PATENT L'Evr JE'wELLgoE srRiyrHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,178, dated January 22, 1861.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, LEVI JEwELL, .of Stratham, in the county of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, have invented a new and useful Combination of Fire-Escape and Shade-FiXtureg and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the shade fixtures looking` from the inside of the room. Fig. 2 is an end View of the same. Fig. 3 shows a section of the shade roller with the escape cords wound around it. Fig; 4 is a transverse section through Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of this invention is to combine with the roller of an ordinary window shade a means for escaping from the building in case lire should occur, and other means of escape are shut off. The invention also provides for removing articles of furniture from the upper stories of buildings in case of fire.

My invention consists in the employlnent of a metal roller, furnished with pulleys for rolling up and unrolling the shade, and hung in strong metal brackets, which are so constructed that a brake can be applied to the roller.

The lire escape consists in the employment yof two ropes of a suitable size which are wound around the roller, and`when not in use are covered with a metal casing, but

vwhen they are in use, one rope will unwind off from the roller while the other winds upon it; all as will be hereinafter described.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the drawings, A represents the window frame, and B, B are two brackets of a peculiar construction which are secured in a suitable manner to each side of this frame and which support the roller C.

D, D are two grooved pulleys, over which cords pass to roll up or unroll the shade,

which is represented in the drawings in red lines.

The ends of the roller,-which roller is made of metal,-have their bearings in the metal brackets B, B, and the ends of the roller are covered with hinged binding caps E, E, which are made to press with greater or less force on the roller ends by the pressure screws a, a, and the springs l), which springs are introduced between the heads of the screws a, a, and the tops of caps E, E. By tightening the screws the caps will press hard upon the pivots of the roller, but the caps will still be allowed to yield to admit of the roller turning in its bearings.

F, F are two arms which project up from the'caps E, E, and support the ends of a rod, from which is hung a curtain which covers up the roller'and bracket. The roller j and also the brackets must be made vvery strong and they must be secured rigidly to the window frame as they are intended to sustain very heavy weights, still the roller should not be made unnecessarily large in its diameter. v

Gr is a strong cord, which is attached to one end of the roller, C, and which has a hook or any other suitable device secured to its loose end., bywhich a person or any article of furniture may be readily secured to the cord. This cord is wound evenly upon the roller C. H is another cord which is also wound on the roller in an' opposite direction to cord Gr. This latter cord is used to gently lower anything down from the window, which is attached to the cord Gr, and to wind up the cord G, on the roller again. Vhen the weight to be lowered is greater than the power, at hand, to lower it, the caps E, E, one or both, are screwed down tighter so as to bind on the pivots of the roller, and thus increase the friction on these pivots. vWhen the cords are not in immediate use, they should both be wound closely and evenly on the roller C, when they may be protected by the semi-cylin drical covers g, g, which may be tied in place or secured in any other suitable manner. The shade is attached either to one of the covers g, g, or between the edges of and cords G, H, with the Covers g, g, subthese covers or to the pulleys at each end of stantially as and for the purposes herein 10 the roller. described.

Having thus described myinvention what l 5 I claim as new, and desire to secure bi1 Let- LEVI JEVELL' ters Patent, is /Vitnesses:

Combining with a shade xture the metal DE VITT C. JEWELL, y

roller C, hinged caps E, E, set screws a, a, A ABBY M. JEWELL. 

